With around 250 days to go until some of the world’s best gymnasts descend on Liverpool, Jen Falding – part of the city council team responsible for making the event happen – writes about her experience so far and looks ahead to October when Liverpool will be in the sporting spotlight once again.
Monday (21 February) marks 250 days to go, before the World Gymnastics Championships takes place in Liverpool, it’s a perfect time to reflect on what has been achieved so far and look ahead to the next six months.
It was great to see most of the WGC2022 team in person for the first time at the M&S Bank Arena at our first readiness planning session. It was fantastic to see the team’s excitement and passion, in bringing this event to life
British Gymnastics are supporting us to deliver the sport elements of the event – the knowledge and expertise they bring is invaluable. Having delivered the World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow 2015, the team is working towards ensuring Liverpool delivers a bigger and better event for the athletes, spectators, volunteers and stakeholders.
Our volunteer programme went live in January, in all we want to recruit up to 600 volunteers to welcome the world to Liverpool. The volunteers will be the heart and soul of the championships and will play an important part in the success of the event. We’re calling on all local residents to get involved. We want you to offer our famous scouse welcome. Please spread the word amongst your friends, families and colleagues. But, hurry, there isn’t much time left, the deadline for applications is Sunday 27 February. Find out more here.
January also saw the launch of our Education Programme, thanks to colleagues in Culture Liverpool. Schools across the UK can download a free education resource pack which brings various elements of the sport, city and event to life from early years right through to Key Stage 3. There’s also a fantastic group ticketing offer available to all schools. So, if you have kids, please make sure you ask your school if they have plans to get involved in the championships.
Meanwhile, the Physical Activity Team is working with partners across the city to deliver participation within the sport, its coaches and facilities, to ensure continuing participation in gymnastics across our city. They’ve also trained care home staff to deliver the British Gymnastics Foundation’s ‘Love to Move’ programme for people with dementia. We now have twice the number of staff who are trained to deliver this work across Merseyside.
Whether you know your handstands, from your double twist somersaults, or if you’ve never been involved in a major event, hopefully there’s something for everyone as we welcome the latest world championships to our sports-mad city. Whether as a ticket holder, a volunteer or just popping into the fanzone, we’d love to see you there between 29 October – 6November.
Now, back to the planning!
Jen Falding is the council’s Strategic Lead for Major Sports Events, part of Marketing Liverpool.
For more information, please visit 2022worldgymnastics.com
